The Land of Knowledge

Are ladies really not allowed to speak in public

Are ladies really not allowed to speak in public

Question:

what do the fuqaha say. are ladies really not allowed to speak in public, can they speak at a volume where only those near by can hear? if they speak at that volume with the aid of a microphone is it haraam?

The Sharee`ah has prohibited women from speaking publicly where men can hear them because of the Fitnah it causes.

The issue is not to do with microphones per se, it applies to radio, over the phone, in person or otherwise.

If a woman speaks to a group of women using a microphone then it will be permissible, while if she were to speak in front of men even without a microphone if there’s no need then it would not be permissible.

Allaah says in Surah Al-Ahzaab, Aayah 32: “O wives of the Prophet (Sallallaahu `Alayhi Wa Sallam), you are not like any other women, if you fear Allaah, then do not be soft in speech lest he in whose heart is a disease is moved with desire, but speak an appropriate speech.” [i]

Commenting on the above Aayah Imaam Abu Bakr Al-Jassaas Rahimahullaah says in Ahkaamul Qur’aan: “In this (Aayah) is the indication that the ruling is the same for all women in the prohibition of being soft in speech to men in a way that causes desire.” [ii]

He then goes on and says: “The indication (in this Aayah) is that it is best for a woman to not raise her voice to the level where men can hear her.”[iii]

He further states in another place: “In this (Aayah) is the indication that a woman is prohibited from raising her voice to the level where it can be heard by strange men, because her voice is closer to (causing) Fitnah than the sound of her anklets, and that is why our companions say it is (prohibitively) disliked for women to call out the Adhaan, because it requires the raising of the voice, and a woman is prohibited from that.”[iv]

Many people misunderstand the issue of women’s voices, on the basis of the question: “Are women’s voices `awrah or not?”

They assume that because they find quotes from books or `Ulamaa saying that a woman’s voice is not `Awrah that it somehow means there is open permissibility for women to speak in public to a mixed audience, but that is incorrect.

A woman’s voice is not `Awrah according to the relied upon opinion of the Madhab, but it is not permissible to speak freely with Ghayr Mahram men without a necessity.